Manure-spreader.



A. A. FOREN.

. MANURB SPREADER'. PPLIc-A'TION FILED 1920.24, rsa1.

PA ""IETED4 AUG. '4, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

MMT

WHA/5555s PATENTED AUG. 4, 1908.

i A. A POKKBN MANURB SPRBADBR.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 24, 1907.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

n l- ..50a TVI INI/ENTOR UNITED MAnUnE-SPREADER,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Angl 4, 1908.

Application med Decemte 24, 1907. serial No. 407,934.

' To al.'- whom it may concern.'

Be. it known :hat I, ADELBERT ANTON FOKKEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Raymond, in the county of Clark 'and btate of South Dakota, have invent-ed certain new and useful lm rovements in Manure-Spreaders; andl do iereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to malte and use the same. Y

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in manure spreaders and my ob-v ject is to mount the operating parts upon a running gear, whereby the manure may be transported from place to place, as well as scattered.

A further object is to provide means for disintegrating the manure previous to scatf tering the same upon the ground.

A further object is to rovide means for moving the disintegrator rom end to end of the spreader.

A still further object is to provide means for automatically shiftinfT the floor` sections of the bed of the spreader, as the disintegrator travels from end to end of the bed and a still further object 1s to provide automatic means for starting or stopping the parts of the s neader.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

ln the accompanying drawings which are made a )art of this application, Figure 1 is a side elevationof my improved form of spreader, showing one of the driving wheels removed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, central, sectional view through the spreader. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the opposite side of the spreader from that shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a top plan view'of the rear axle of the spreader, showing the automatic means for stopping the operating arts of the spreader.

' F 1g. 5 is a detail front e evation of a trip and operating lever therefor employed in connection with the sto )ping mechanism. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale, as seen on line 6-6, Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a detail to n )lan view of a portion of the forward end of the spreader', snowing the automatic reversing mechanism for the disintegrator. Fig. S is a sectional view as seen on line S8, Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is an edge elevation of one of the movable floor sections. F ig. 10 is a bottom plan view thereof. sid"-l elevation of one of the. driving cogs showing a speed changing mechanism coperating therewith, and, Fig. 12 is an edge elevation of a bracket used in connection with the spreader. Fig. 13 is a sectional view illustrating certain details of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in which similar referenee'numerals designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, 1' indicates the bed of my improved spreader, which 1s mounted upon su porting axles Fig. 11 is a detail STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

2 and 3 at opposite ends o the bed, said axles having wheels 4 and 5, respectively, mounted thereon. A shaft 6 extends laterslides 7, which are slidably mounted in Ways 8 in the walls of the bed 1.

Mounted upon the shaft 6 and adapted to rotate therev`th, is a disintegrator or beater A7o ally through the bed 1 and is supported in 1 9, the periphery of which is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extendine' ribs 10 and the apex of the ribs are provided with a plurality of spikes 11. The beater 10 is adapted to be moved from end to end of the bed 1 and rotate at the same time, so that the contents ofthe bed will be thoroughly disintegrated and moved to a Suitable discharge opening, and, in accomplishing this result, each of the wheels 5 have secured thereto a disk 12, the inner face of which is provided with' teeth 13, with which is adapted to mesh a pinion 14, slidably mounted on a vertically disposed shaft 15, said shaft being preferablysquare in cross section to fit a similarly constructed opening through the pinion 14, thereby permitting the pinion to be moved longitudinally on the shaft and, at the same time, rotate the shaft, the lower end of the shaft 15 being mounted in any suitable form of bearing on the axle 3.

The upper end of the shaft 15 has secured thereto a bevel pinion 16, which meshes with a bevel pinionV 17 on a driving shaft 18, said shaft being mounted in brackets 19 on the side of the bed, said shaft resting in a horizontal posit-ion and adjacent the path of the slide 7 there being a driving shaft 18 and operating mechanism therefor at each side of the bed 1, one of said shafts having a worm 20 thereon, which is adapted to engage a gear 21 secured to one end of the shaft 6 and is employed for rotating the beater 9, while the shaft 18 at the opposite side of the bed is provided at its forward end with a bevel pinion 22, which meshes with pinioiis23 and 24 on a shaft 25. The shaft 25 isi-also provided at op osite sides of the bed 1 with spiocket-w eels 26 around which take `s rocket chains 27,` the free ends of said c ains being secured tothe ends ofthe slides 7, said cliainsalso passing around s rockets 28 at the opposite end of the bed, sai( sprockets 28 being secured tov adjusting bolts 29, Awhich are in turn extended through .plates 30 on the bed and provided on their outer` ends with nuts 31 by which means the tension of thejchains maybe regulated. B v this construction it will be readily seen that when the spreader is moved forwardly, inotion will be imparted to the shafts 1S, one of said shafts moving the beater longitu dinally of the bed 1 through the medium of the chai-ns 27 while the worm 2O on the oipposite shaft 18 will rotate the beater tirough the medium of the gear 21 and, by placing the heater at the rear end of the bed and placing the article to be distributed between the beater and the forward end of the br 1, said substance will be successively engaged and disintegrated by the beater as said beater travels towards the forward end of the bed;

The gears 23 and 24 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 25, so' that when one of the gears is rotating said shaft the opposite gear vill run free thereon and,in order to fix the shaftto the gears, a clutch 32 is feathered, or othen wise secured to the shaft 25 between the gears 23 and 24 and is adapted to alternately engage said gears to reverse the travel of the beater in the bed and, in order to automatically shift the clutch from engagementwith the gear 23 when said gear is employed for moving the beater towards the foiward end of the bed into engagement with the gear 24 to move the beater to the rear end of the. bed, I provide a bell-crank lever 33, which lever is pivotally secured to the side of the bed 1 by means of a bracket 34, one arm of the heli-crank lever extending over one edge. of the bed, while the op osite arm extends parallel with the side of t ie bed and over the clutch 32 and, at the point of its passage `over the clutch, said arm is provided with a slot 35, through which passes the upper end of a shifting lever 36. The lower enti of tee shifting lever 36 is preferably bifurcated to s an the clutch 32 and, by pivotally securing tiie shifting lever 36 to a bracket 37 adjacent. its longitudinal center, it will be seen that when the bell crank lever is rocked on its ivot point, the clutch 32 will be moved ongitudinally on the shaft 25 and engaged, respectively, with the gears 23 or 24.

The bell-crank lever is automatically operated to shift the clutch 32 from engagement with the gear 23 into engagement with the.

vcoming in contact with lthat armof the bell-l crank lever extending over the edge of the bed 1, the forward movement of the shield frocking the bell-crank lever and operating the shifting lever-36 and the shifting lever is held in its shifted position lby means of a latch 39 carried by the bed 1 engaging the arm of the bell-crank lever extending over the edge of the bed when said arm is moved forward. When it is desired to return the clutch 32 into engagement with the gear 23, the latch 39 is released from the bell-crank lever and said lever is returned to its normal position by means of a spring 40, one end of the spring being secured to that arin of the bell-crank lever extending over the clutch 32,

whilel the op )osite end thereof is secured in any preferie manner to the bed 1.

The travel of the beater 9 longitudinally of the bed and the rotation of the beater may be quickly increased or decreased by raising or lowering the piriions 14 on the shafts 15 and, to readily accomplish this result, the bell crank levers 41 are )ivotally secured to the op )osite sides of the ed, one arm of each of sain levers being pivotally secured to the pinions 14, while the opposite arms are secured to pitinen 42, the forward ends of said pitinen being in turn secured to the lower ends of levers 43, said levers having latches 44 thereon adapted to engage teeth upon rack bars 45, said bars being )referably secured to the forward end of t ie bed and in position to be'readily operated by the attendant. The shield 38 is placed in the rear of the beater 9 and the lower end thereof is adapted to engage the floor 46 of the bed, said lower end serving as a scraper to thoroughly remove all particles of the manure from the oor,.as the shield is moved torwardly, said shield being provided at its edges with straps 47, which are in turnsecured to the slides 7 and the lower edge of t-he shield is held in engagement with thel floor by placing the free ends of the arms 3S inposition to travel upon the edges of the be 1, said arms holding the shicld'against tilting. As the disintegrated particles are to be discharged from the bed immediately in the rear of the beater 9 and, as said beater trav'- els from the rear to the forward end of the bed, it is necessary to provide means for shifting the position of the discharge o )ening and cause the same to travel with the )eater and, to this end, the major portion of the floor 46 is built upl of sections 4S, the ends of which are slidably mounted in grooves 49 in the walls of the bed and, to prevent undue wear of the sections, metallic clips 50a are introduced over the ends thereof7 which clips are adapted to rest in the grooves.

The sections 4S arestrciigthened longitudinally, so as to prevent the same from saggeai' 24, by arms 3S'carried by a shield 3S, ging when weight is placed thereon by means which is adapted to travel with the beater '9, l of rods 50, said rods being supported in posie95,35e" VV 3 3 tion on the sections 4S by means of ears 51,

the rods being fixed to the ears adjacent the outeryeiids of the sections, while the meeting ends of the rods are threaded to receive a turn buckle 5'2. The sections 48 are less in numb c than is necessary te completely lill the space at the lower edge of the bed, thereby forming a discharge opening 53 and, in order to cause said opening to travel with the beater 9, the sections 48 are successively shifted rearwardly, as the beatertravels forwardly by providing a shifting mechanism, which consist. of sprocket chains, or the like 54, which are adapted to travel around s )rocket wheels 55 carried by shafts 56, said shafts being rotatably mountedI in slide bars 5S, which are in turn slidably mounted in a iii traine 59 on the lower edge of the bed, said frames having longitudinally extending slots therein to receive the slide bar.

Secured to the peripheral faces ofthe sprocket chains 54 ai'e fingers 61, which lingers are adapted to engage the ends 62 of the rods 50, said ends extending beyond the outer ears ,51 and in the path of said fingers and, as the shafts 56 are rotated, the fingers will be successively broughtinto enga-gement with the ends G2 and the sections 48 moved laterally. The shafts 56 are. rotated by means -of cogs 63, engaging teeth'64 formed integral with the upper wall of the slot 60, rotating motion being imparted to said shafts by moving the slide bars 58 longitui'linally of the slots 6() and the sections 48 aie so arranged t-hat but one of the sections will be moved laterally at a time, thereby normally leaving the discharge opening 53 o )en its full width, the speed of the sproelkct wheels 55 being greater than the longitudinal movement of thc slide bars and the shield 38a is so arranged that each section when moved reaiwvardly, will pass slightly beyond the shield, the lower end of the shield removing any of the product of the bed adhering to the section. The shafts 56 and parts carried thereby are moved longitudinally of the bed by providing sprocket chains G5, which chains pass around sprockets 66 and 67 at the front and rear ends, respectively of the bed, the free ends of said chains being secured at opposite `ends of the slide iais 58. The sprockets 66 are secured to a shaft 68 and are driven from the shaft 25 by means of sprocket chains 69 and sprocket wheels 70 and 71 on the shafts G8 and 25, rcs iectively, while the sprockets 67 are carried by adjusting bolt-s 72, which bolts extend through lugs 73 on the rear axle 3, the outer ends of said bolts being provided with nuts 74, by which means the bolts 72 are adjusted longitudinally. By this construc- 'tion it will be readily seen that when the beater 9 is being moved towards the forward end of the bed, the sprocket wheels 55 and sprocket chain passing around the same, will belikewise moved forwardly, vand simultaneously with the beater and, as the cogs 63 are' in engagement with the teeth 64, said sprocket wheels will be rotated and the lingers 61 moved into engagement ith the ends 62, the travel of said fingers being faster than the forward movement ofthe parts carrying thc saine and thus successively moving the sections 48 to the rear of the shield 38, the movement of said sections being at intervals, so that the contents of the bed will readily pass through the opening formed between the separated sections of the floor. The rearward movement of the flooroperating mechanism is also employed for stopping the driving mechanism, one of the shafts 56 being extended beyond the slide bar 58 sce Fig. 4 and adapted to engage a.l Y

trigger, which trigger is rotatably mounted in the end of the socket 76, the socket 76 being in turn pivotally secured to the outer end of an arin 77 carried by a rocking bar 78. The rocking bar 78 is pivotally mounted below the bed 1 and has secured to its oppo site ends, oppositcly disposed pinnen 79, the ends of the pitmen being in turn secured to clutches 8U carried by the wheels 5, said clutches being adapted to copcrate with the hubs 81 of the disk 12 and impart motion to the disk when thel clutches are in engagement therewith. v

The rearward movement pf the hflooro eraf-ing parts will bring the projecting end o the shaft 56 into engagement with the trigger 7 5 and move the socket 76 longitudinally, thereby rockiiig the bar 7S and pulling the clutches 80 out of engagement with the hubs of the disk 12 and, as long as the extended end of the shaft remains in engageinent with the trigger, the clutches will be held out 4of engagement with the disk and the operating parts of the-spreader remain stationary.

When the bed has been llillcd with tho product to be distributed, the spreader is driven to the point of depositing the con-- tents of the spreader when the clutches S0 arc again thrown into engagement with the hubs of the disk 12, which is accomplished by depressing a foot lever S2 pivoted at its. center to the forward end of the bed, said lever being operatively secured to the trigger 75 through the medium ef a connecting rod 85, that end of thc rod extending through the trigger, being square in cross section and entered intoV a similarly constructed socket 86 in the pivoted end of the trigger 75, therei the pitmen 79, will immediately throw the clutches V80 into engagement with the hubs on the disk 12.

, 'l-.en the spreader has moved forwardly a sufficient distance to move the projecting end of the shaft 56 out of the pat-h of the trigger 75, iressiire on the foot lever 82 is removed an the trigger-operating parts attached thereto, returned to their initial positions by means of a spring S8.

The sides of the bed 1 are reinforced by securing to the outer faces thereof, brackets S9, said brackets being formed in two sections and connected together by means of loops 90, said loops extending around the chains 27 and shafts 1S and said loops are so constructed that any suitable form of shield (not shown) maybe secured thereto, to pref vent particles of the contents ol the bed from dropping thereon.

In operation, the beater 9 being at the rear end of the bed l, that portion ofv the bed- *1 l the front -ot the beater is iilled with inai re, or like subst-ance to be scattered overA aji'eld and after the bed has been properly ill ed-`,-. the spreader is conveyed to the lield and"= the operating parts of the spreader startedin motion by moving the trigger late ri lynnd releasing the latch 39 from the arm o '\h`e\lover 33, thereby throwing the clutches 4 cinto engagement with the disks l2 and tl eclutch 32 into engagement with the gear .Zbthe forward movement of the spreader causing the bea-ter to travel towards the forwardgend of the bed and disintegrate the manuretherein and move the same in position to- )ass through the opening 53 in the bottom olithe bed and. simultaneously with this` movement, the hoor-operating parts aic. iuoved fori'vardly and the iingcrs tl brought successivelv into engagement with the ends til on the lloor sectionand said section moved rearwardly as the parts of the device.. are moved`\forwardly. .Ls soon as the beater has reached the. forward end of the bed, the arms 3S will engage the bell-crank lever and move the clutch 32 into engagement with the gear 24,which will reverse the-movement of the parts and cause the beater and lloor-operating mechanism to trai el towards the rear of the bed, the sections of the llooring being successively moved foiwvardlv until all of the sections are at one side ol' the ocning 53, which is the result when the section-o ierating parts are ai the rear end of the bed. As soon as the Boor-operating parts have been moved adjacent thel rear end of the bed, the projecting end of one of the shafts of said mechanism will engage the trigger 75 and disengages the clutches from the disks when the spreader is again driven to the deposit of manure and the bed 'filled as before.v y

The amountof manure spread upon the ground may be readily increased or dey thatrwill antoinaticallv stop t ie operation of the ,parts thereo. A that the particles distributed bythe spreader deposited upon the ground and it will like creased .by operating the levers 43 to raise or lower the pinions H, thereby increasing or Vdecreasing the speed of the operating parts.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a veryefhcientformofmanure spreaderandone 70 It wilgfurther he seen will be thoroughly disintegrated before being wise be seen that the amount ol the particles being deposited upon'the ground may be readily increased'or decreased by increasing or decreasing the speed of the operating I parts of the spreader. 30 i 'hile the element 10, has been hereinbei fore referred to as a beater or disintegrator, it may also be known as adistributer as it is through the rotation of this element that the mamire is caused to be discharged or dis- 8f tributed. Y What I claim is: i Y l. In a manure spreader of the class described, the combination with a bedpsiip- `porting axles for the bed and wheels on said axles.' of a beater-slidably mounted in the 1 i bed, a bot-tom in said' bed formed ofsections, said sections being in a. common plane, i means to move said beater from ond to end of i the bed and sini. itaneonsly rotate the same 95 i and means to :nove the sections of the lloori ing in their common plane., whereby ah opening will be provided in the rear of the beater. 2. In a manure spreader, a receptacle havi ing a bottoni forint-d in sections, a distributing means within ,the receptacle movable over the bottom of the receptacle, and means forjnoving the sections of the'bottoin away from the distributing means in a common plane after the distributing means has passed t-hereover. 3. ln a. manine spreader, a receptacle having a bottom formedl in sections arranged in Y l the same plane, a distributing means within i i the receptacle movable over the bottoni of the receptacle, and means for moving each section of the bottom away from the distribx uting means in a common plane after the distribiiting means has passed tlicrcover.

4. ln a manure spreader, a receptacle having a bottom formed in sections, a distributl ing means within the receptacle movable v2 A. over the bottom of the receptacle, and means \5 independent of the distributing means foi\\ imparting movement to the sections of the bottom in a common plane.

5. In a manure spreader, the combination with a lied having slots therein of slides in said slots, a shaft extending laterally through the bed and through said slides, a beater fixed to said shat't, a shield in therear of said beater, chains secured to said slidesfsprocket wheels at opposite Aends of the bed to receive Y said chains, means to rotate said wheels, y whereby the beaterwill be moved from end 13:) Y

l .y i

to end of the bed and automatic means for reversing the rotation of said sprockets when the beater has reached the forward end of the bed.

6. A spreader of the class described, comprising the combination with a bed, a beater mounted in said bed and means 'to move the beater from end to end of the bed; of a floor in said vbed formed of sections, the bed having grooves to receive the ends of the sections, reinforcing rods below said sections and means below the sections adapted to engage. the ends of said rods and move the sect-ions, whereby an opening will be formed in the rear of the beater. r

7. A spreader of the class described, coinpiis-ing the combination with a bed, a beater rotatably mounted in the bed and means to move the beater longitudinally of the bed; of a floor in said bed formed of sections, brace rods for said sections, sprocket wheels rotatably and inovably mounted below said' sections, sprocket chains on said wheels, iingers on said sprocket chains adapted to engage the projecting ends of the brace rods and move the sections and means to move said sprocket wheels forwardly and rear. wardly in coperation with the movement of the beater, whereby the opening formed by the shifting sections, will be retained immediately in the rear of the beater.

8. In a. spreader of the class described, the combination with a bed, a beater slidably mounted in the bed, means to move the beater from end to end of the bed, supporting axles for said bed and wheels on said axles; of disks rotatably mounted on the hubs of two of said wheels, clutches adapted to cooperate with said disks and cause the same to rotate with -the wheels, vertically disposed shafts adjacent said disks, pinions mounted on said shafts, teeth on the inner face of said disks, with which said pinions are adapted to mesh, means to raise and lower said iinions, whereby the rotation of said shafts wi l beincreased ordecreased and means at the upper ends of said shafts te impart motion to the beater propelling means and additional means to automatically release said clutches from the disks.

9. In a spreader of the class described, the combination with a bed, a beater in said bed, means to move said beater longitudinally of the bed and rotate the same, movable floor sections in the bed, and means to move said sections; of supporting ,axies for the bed, wheels on said axles, clutches on said wheels, disks loosely mounted on said wheels adapted to be engaged by saidclutches, pitnien secured to said clutches, a trigger connected to pitmen, said trigger being adapted to be engaged by parts of thevi'ioor-shiftmg mech- Y amsm and move the clutches out of engagement with the disks and means to sjving said trigger laterally and disengage the spine fromthe\iioor-shifting mechanism and permit the vclutchesto engage the disks.

10. a manure spreader, a receptacle having'yf'a:bottom formed in sections, a distributingmeans within the receptacle, and a traveling movable means for shifting the sec-- bottom, and means under control of the scc--V tion operating means for reversing the direction of motion of the distmbuting means when the distributing means has reached the Y limit of its movementin one direction.

12. In a manure spreader, a receptacle: having its bottom formed in sections, areciprocating distributinghneans within the\re ceptacle, and means for shifting the sections of the bottom to form an o ening adjacent the distributing means in bot i of its direction of movement.

13. In a manure spreader, a receptacle having its bottom formed in sections, means for imparting movement to the sections, a distributing means within the receptacle, and a shield for the distributing means contacting with the sections to act as a scraper therefor.

14. In a manure spreader, a receptacle having a bottom formed in sections, a distributing means within the receptacle, a traveling means, and a movable means carried by the traveling means for shifting the sections of the bottom, said movable means being operated at a greater speed than the traveling mea-iis.

15. In a manure spreader, a receptacle having a bottom formed in sections, a distributing means within the receptacle, a. traveling means, and a movable means carried by the traveling means for shifting the sections of the bottom, said movable means going in a direction opposite to the direction of the traveling means.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADELBERT ANTOX FOKKEN.

Witnesses:

JOHN S. DANroRTH, E. F. CONNER. 

